Category: The Atlasphere

All things Atlasphere can be found here, columns, podcasts, interesting anecdotes, and more.

Czech President Vaclav Klaus Slams Global Warming

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

Matt Drudge points out a very articulate (and high profile) new swipe at global warming from Czech President Vaclav Klaus, from an interview in a Czech publication:

Q: IPCC has released its report and you say that the global warming is a myth. How did you get this idea, Mr President?
A: It’s not my idea. Global warming is a myth and every serious person and scientist says so. It is not fair to refer to the U.N. panel. IPCC is not a scientific institution: it’s a political body, a sort of non-government organization of green flavor. It’s neither a forum of neutral scientists nor a balanced group of scientists. These people are politicized scientists who arrive there with a one-sided opinion and a one-sided assignment. Also, it’s an undignified slapstick that people don’t wait for the full report in May 2007 but instead respond, in such a serious way, to the summary for policymakers where all the “but’s” are scratched, removed, and replaced by oversimplified theses.
This is clearly such an incredible failure of so many people, from journalists to politicians. If the European Commission is instantly going to buy such a trick, we have another very good reason to think that the countries themselves, not the Commission, should be deciding about similar issues.

President Klaus goes on at some length, and it’s quite good, so keep reading…
PS: For anyone new to the subject of why global warming is a farce, you can hardly do better than Michael Crichton’s excellent novel State of Fear. You might even call it “the Atlas Shrugged of global warming dissent” — and it comes complete with footnotes and an annotated bibliography for further reading.

Radicals for Capitalism on C-SPAN2

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

Brain Doherty, senior editor at Reason Magazine, will be discussing his new book Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement on C-SPAN2’s “After Words”. Readers of Ayn Rand will recognize the title, taken from Rand’s description of her political viewpoint.
From the C-SPAN Booknotes email announcement:

Insightful author interviews
Saturday 9 PM, Sunday 6 PM and 9 PM ET
Brian Doherty is a senior editor at Reason magazine and the author of This Is Burning Man: The Rise of a New American Underground. He discusses his latest book, Radicals for Capitalism: A History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement, with Doug Bandow, former senior fellow at the Cato Institute and current vice president of policy at Citizen Outreach, a limited-government public policy organization. Mr. Bandow’s latest book is Foreign Follies: America’s New Global Empire.

The Life and Ideas of Milton Friedman

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

Worth Watching:
Power of Choice: The Life and Ideas of Milton Friedman
Monday, January 29, 2007; check local listings for broadcast time.
“A documentary on the life and ideas of Nobel-winning economist Milton Friedman (1912-2006), with comments from former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan; economists Gary Becker and Paul Samuelson, and former Estonian prime minister Mart Laar.”

Bob Burg to Host "Extreme Business Makeovers"

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

On February 23-24th, critically acclaimed author and speaker Bob Burg, who is also an Atlasphere columnist, will be co-hosting a two-day business seminar in Orlando called “Extreme Business Makeovers.”
Burg is the author of The Success Formula, Winning Without Intimidation, and Endless Referrals — all well-regarded in the business coaching industry for providing practical principles for maximizing business growth.
His business columns at the Atlasphere include the “Success Formula” series (parts one, two, and three), his “Winning Without Intimidation” series (covering Belief Concepts, The Three P’s, How You Say It, The Power Play, Allowing Yourself to Win, and The Power of Questions), and many others.
He has also authored several political columns for the Atlasphere, including “A Nation of Laws (Not Lawmakers,” “Re-Framing the Immigration Debate,” and, most recently, “Default Settings to Big Government.”
For information about attending Burg’s two-day seminar, visit the Extreme Business Makeover web site, which describes the event, the bevy of business authorities who will be presenting there, and how to register.
UPDATE: Burg has written more about this upcoming seminar, and the topics that will be covered, in his February 5th Atlasphere column “Bringing Your Business to the Next Level.”

Travels and Travails of the "We the Living" Band

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

In November I finally bought a copy of the album Far from You and Your Everyday Noise by a new Wisconsin band called “The Profits” — since re-christened “We the Living” and scheduled to release their first national album under the We the Living name in March or so.
Their original album reveals an incredible musicality in their performances — mostly acoustic stuff in the vein of John Mayer or some U2 songs — and they happen to be Ayn Rand fans, too. In fact, lead singer and songwriter John Paul Roney is Sarah Saturday‘s younger brother.
Since buying their Far from You album, I’ve rarely taken it out of my CD player except to make copies for the kitchen and the car. It’s a delightful collection of songs, with catchy melodies, alternately witty and thought-provoking lyrics, and good production value for a first album.

Today I visited their blog and noticed this hilarious post from a few days ago, about their recent trip to the musical mecca of Los Angeles.
I plan to review their (old and new) albums soon for the Atlasphere. Meantime, give these guys a look. Their MySpace page has some good songs on it.
Better still, buy their album now and count yourself lucky to experience a truly talented and promising band while most of the world is still oblivious.

NY Times on Atlas Movie

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

An update and history of the Atlas Shrugged movie project was published in Sunday’s New York Times. The article discusses the current Baldwin Entertainment Group/Lions Gate project, and is framed by a recounting of past failed projects to bring Rand’s novel to the big screen.
The article ends with the following quote from writer/director Randall Wallaceâ??current screenwriter for the Atlas movie:

â??I can pretty much guarantee you that there wonâ??t be a 30-page speech at the end of the movie,â? he said. â??I have two hours to try to express what Rand believed to an audience, and my responsibility is not only to Ayn Rand, but to the audience, that this be a compelling movie. More people will see the movie than will read â??Atlas Shrugged.â?? And the movie has to work.â?

Read the full article…(free registration required)

Exxon Warming Up to Global Warming?

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

MSNBC reports that Exxon-Mobil has “stopped funding groups skeptical of global warming claims.”
Whether because of Congressional pressure, or that from stockholders nervous about bad publicity, the change can be expected to harbinger bad news for some. (Exxon actually stopped funding CEI, a major critic of global warming claims, prior to receiving the infamous Snowe-Rockefeller letter.)
Larger companies like Exxon may see little effect – they have highly paid lobbyists to soften any effect of expected increased legislative control. Smaller companies may simply disappear, unable to compete as the price of generating energy is increased.
Those who advocate a free market in energy, supported by sound environmental science, should be concerned.

Tracinski On Fox News – Rescheduled for Jan 8

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

Robert Tracinksi, owner and publisher of TIA Daily, is scheduled to appear on “Your World with Neil Cavuto,” a Fox News Channel program on Jan 8, time to be determined.
In a recent TIA Daily he outlined the three current strategies for Iraq under discussion by the Administration: “Going Big, Going Long, and Going Home.” He presents an alternative he calls “Going Wide.” This involves essentially looking beyond Iraq’s borders to the wider source of the problem, namely Iran and Syria.

Nuremburg vs. Saddam's Sloppy Trial

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

From Ed Hudgins at The Objectivist Center:
Saddam Hussein’s Execution
by Edward Hudgins
Saddam Hussein is deservedly dead, hanged as the heinous criminal he was. But the process by which justice was administered was disappointing and highlights the wide gap in values between Iraqâ??s culture and that of any civilized country.
I wrote three years ago (“A Trial for Saddam Hussein,” December 17, 2003) that a trial of Hussein offered an opportunity for Iraqis to affirm universal principles of justice the way the Nuremberg trials did after World War II. Nazi war criminals faced charges of committing aggression, crimes committed during war and crimes against humanity. The judges were representatives of the victors, but this was not victors’ justice. True, the Soviet government, whose leaders deserved the same treatment as the Nazis, had a representative on the panel of judges that included members from the United States, Britain and France. But the process allowed the Nazis to defend themselves and several were even acquitted.
But most important, the crimes of the Nazi regime were documented for all to see. Principles of justice plus a detailed look at how they were undermined offered an object lesson to all countries seeking to keep the commitment of “never again.”
In Iraq, Saddam was convicted and executed for the 1982 murders of 148 people in the town of Dujail in the wake of an assassination attempt against him. He deserved his fate but that trial did not lay out the broader principles of justice that should govern any legitimate regime. Nor did it review the full scope of his regime’s crimes that led to the torture and deaths of hundreds of thousands.
Continue reading “Nuremburg vs. Saddam's Sloppy Trial”

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